Omen of Balance
by cylontealc
Summary: Windclan cats Moonpaw, Flamepaw and Sparklepaw learn of a prophecy concerning themselves
1. Chapter 1

Sparklekit tripped clumsily through the tall grass, wind ruffling her sleek brown fur. Behind her, Flamekit pushed with her hind legs and launched herself at her littermate. Sparklekit ducked nimbly as Flamekit soared over her head and tumbled toward the nursery, flattening some of the tall grass. Flat on the ground, Sparklekit crept toward the small white body of her sister. Hissing, she pounced lightly onto Flamekit's back and bit her neck softly. Flamekit went momentarily limp as Sparklekit cried triumphantly. Her littermate suddenly sprang to her feet, landing Sparklekit hard on her back. Cuffing her opponent, Flamekit unsheathed her claws momentarily. Ivylight, their mother, paused from her washing.

"Careful, Flamekit," She warned her kit.

"I'm just practicing! We'll be warriors in a few sunrises!" Flamekit defended loudly. Sparklekit cuffed her sister playfully and retreated to the nursery. Flamekit bolted around the side of the nursery, searching for gaps with her blue gaze. Halfway through wriggling through a small hole in the corner of the nursery, a pair of teeth pulled her back and she found herself face to face with Moonkit.

"What are you doing?" She said sternly.

"I was _going_ to sneak in on Sparklekit." Flamekit said matter-of-factly, but with a hint of annoyance in her mew. Moonkit, the third of their litter, was always thinking _she_ was in charge just because soon _she'd_ be training to be a medicine cat. Flamekit remembered her surprise upon Moonkit's decision to give up a warrior's life to train with Skyspirit. A medicine cat would sit around in a stuffy den and tend to sick cats. The fresh air of the wild and the victorious taste of fresh-kill were much more appealing to both Moonkit's littermates.

Moonkit's tail twitched her dark tail in annoyance. "You _are_ going to be an apprentice soon, you know."

Biting back a smart remark, Flamekit shrugged and joined Sparklekit in the nursery. Ivylight padded in, silver fur now completely washed. Following her was Leopardpaw, a fresh killed rabbit dangling from his mouth. Sparklekit jumped to her feet and rushed over to the apprentice. Her sister joined her.

"I told you I would visit you," The young apprentice mewed, dropping the rabbit at the kits' feet. "Here, eat this. A _warrior in training_ needs to be well fed." His words made Sparklekit's paws tingle in excitement and anxiety. She bit into the foot of the rabbit and let the flavor melt deliciously on her tongue. She closed her eyes and stretched blissfully.

"Do you like being an apprentice?" Sparklekit opened her eyes as Flamekit asked the golden Leopardpaw anxiously.

"Yeah, training with the other apprentices is great! Sometimes, we get to hunt all day! I caught five rabbits and a few mice in half a day." The kits' eyes widened as he described his adventures hunting in the grass. When at last he finished, the rabbit had disappeared between the two kits and Leopardpaw's own eyes were wide with amazement at his stories. Sparklekit leaped onto his back. "Show us some of your fighting moves!"

The three rushed out of the nursery and even Moonkit watched from the entrance to the medicine den as Leopardpaw twisted quickly onto his back and then demonstrated how to stalk a rabbit. Glancing at Moonkit, Sparklekit thought she saw something in her eyes, something like jealousy, or disappointment. She brightened, though, as Skyspirit sent her off to fetch some herbs.

…..

As she walked once more into the medicine den, mouth loaded with catmint, scents reached out to her, welcoming Moonkit as she padded in. She quickly identified poppy seed, marigold and wild garlic smells as they hit the roof of her mouth. Dustytail coughed ruggedly in the corner, eyes streaming. Skyspirit purred soothingly to him. Moonkit laid down the herbs at Skyspirit's paws. Skyspirit sniffed them.

"Very good, Moonkit," She awarded. Moonkit's whiskers twitched in calm pride. _At least _I'm_ doing something to help_, she thought, hearing her littermates shrieking and squabbling with Leopardpaw. Once again, she felt somewhat left out in their games_. I want to be a medicine cat,_ she thought, trying to push away the uncertainty nagging at her mind_. I do!_

Stepping out of the medicine den, she watched the kits and young apprentice play carelessly, pouncing and slashing and stalking. A small part of her wanted to join them, like a normal cat would. _Well, maybe I'm not a normal cat, then_.

Sparklekit spotted her. "Come and practice with us, Moonkit! Medicine cats need to train, too, you know!" Moonkit, somewhat relieved, joined them near the nursery. She flew past Leopardpaw as he hopped quickly away from her charge. Sparklekit lunged herself then at Flamekit, taking her littermate by surprise. Leopardpaw stopped and sniffed the air. Moonkit smelled it too. _Rabbit! _The small white rabbit streaked through the clearing. Flamekit, acting as a RiverClan warrior, pounced dumbly, missing the prey by many mouse-lengths.

Moonkit laughed with the group, happier than she'd been in at least three moons. Thoughts nagged once again at her mind. _Is this where I'm meant to be, here with the warriors?_

…

_"There will be three of Windclan." _The voice echoed in Moonkit's dream. The moor was dark and unfamiliar, yet she felt she had been there before. She looked about for the speaker. _"One shall blaze through the forest."_ Images of white flames flooded into her mind._ "Another shall rise as high as the moon."_ This time, she felt tingling all over her paws._ "The third shall run from the moor and reunite the fifth." _Suddenly, she was staring at the sky. _"Together, they hold the balance of the clans."_


	2. Chapter 2

_ Chapter 2_

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey…" Flamekit didn't bother to listen to the rest of the clan leader, Redstar's call. She sprang to her feet. Anxious for her litter to become apprentices at last, she shook Sparklekit with her paw. Sparklekit, dark eyes clouded, looked up at Flamekit. Her face suddenly lit up and she scrambled to her paws and began to wash urgently. Moonkit was mumbling in her sleep. Poking her softly with a claw, Flamekit attempted to wake her sister. Moonkit looked sharply up.

"What – what is it?" she stammered, alert and on guard.

"You can let your guard down, it's me, Flamekit." She mewed. "It's time for the naming, remember?" The three excited kits hopped out of the nursery toward where the cats were gathering. Spotting Ivylight, Flamekit ran to sit by her mother. Finding herself unable to stay still, her tail twitched uncontrollably.

"We, Windclan, celebrate a very important event for three young cats." announced Redstar. Cats glanced eagerly at the three kits. Flamekit ruffled her pelt importantly and glanced amiably at her clan.

"Flamekit, you will now be known as Flamepaw." Ivylight gave her kit one last lick before Flamekit stepped forward. "You shall be mentored by Specklenose." Flamepaw gazed admiringly at the golden she-cat as they touched muzzles.

"Sparklekit, you shall now be called Sparklepaw." Sparklepaw skipped happily away from her mother. "Your mentor will be Heatherclaw." A smooth, ginger tabby she-cat approached her. Sparklepaw touched her brown muzzle to Heatherclaw's ginger.

"Moonkit, from now on you are Moonpaw." Allowing her mother to smooth her fur with her tongue one final time, Moonpaw strode up calmly. "Skyspirit will be your mentor." Moonpaw touched muzzles happily with the medicine cat. Ivylight look upon her daughter a little but sadly. A medicine cat could not mate, or have kits. Moonpaw would never be a warrior.

"Flamepaw! Sparklepaw! Moonpaw!"

"What are we going to do first?" Flamepaw kneaded the ground with her paws impatiently.

"I was thinking of exploring the territory." Specklenose responded softly. Heatherclaw approached her. "Perhaps we could join," She suggested. Flamepaw groaned inwardly as the two warriors agrees. Now she would have to spend her first day of apprenticeship with Sparklepaw tagging along.

For the rest of the day, the group explored the moor. Flamepaw caught her first piece of prey, a rabbit, trying out Leopardpaw's rabbit stalking technique. Sparklepaw caught a small mouse as her first. Both apprentices came back to camp with a proud mouthful of fresh-kill. They met in the apprentice's den with Leopardpaw.

"How was your first day of training?" the young apprentice asked.

"Great!" agreed both new apprentices. Now, it was their turn to retell their experiences, constantly correcting and interrupting each other. Flamepaw proudly finished with how she had hooked a large mouse on the way home, mouth already filled with prey.

Exhausted, Flamepaw kneaded at the soft moss of her bedding. She curled up like a kit and slept.

…..

Sparklepaw woke up to white light streaming in through the cracks in the walls of the apprentice's den. Licking her lips softly, she stretched her paws. As her pads connected with Flamepaw's white fur, her sister groaned and winced at the bright light. Sparklepaw crept over to the entrance, careful not to wake any more apprentices. Peering out, she saw that a thin white sheet covered the moor, freezing the remaining leaf-fall leaves, blown from Thunderclan forests, into crystals.

Sparklepaw pounced out. The cold shocked her skin, despite her thick pelt. She sniffed for prey. Most of it had skittered toward the protection on the Thunderclan and Shadowclan trees. The moor offered no shaded area where the snow could not reach the ground. A sudden movement caught her gaze. She pricked her ears. A small mouse was skittering madly under the ice. Unsheathing her claws, she hooked the mouse easily. Heatherclaw appeared from the warrior's den.

"Nice catch," she complemented, glancing at the leaf-bare clearing. "What do you say to a leaf-bare hunt? The clan needs more food than ever."

Heatherclaw's words were true- the clan had to be fed in this time of low prey.

"And keep an eye out for catmint! With leaf bare come Whitecough and Greencough," Moonpaw mewed matter-of-factly after them as they headed out for their hunt.

The frozen moor cracked underfoot loudly, warning the occasional rabbit or mouse of their approach. By the time it was time to return to camp, Sparklepaw's paws ached and all that dangled from her jaw was the mouse from her morning catch and some catmint she had seen growing weakly near Fourtrees. She padded over to the medicine den, where she heard Dapplekit's rough coughing. Dropping the catmint at Skyspirit's paws, she prayed that the sickness of leaf-bare would not take kits to Starclan.

She walked back to the apprentice's den while Moonpaw purred soothingly to the sick kit. The sounds of coughing echoed in her mind ominously, like a dark cloud over the luscious moor. She curled up in her nest, but the usual warm, dreamless sleep didn't find her. For once, she questioned whether she belonged in this clan. If she could not bear the coughing of a kit, how would she ever become a strong warrior like Spikefoot, her father?

…


	3. Chapter 3

Moonpaw's paws tingled in anticipation as she kneaded the ground outside the medicine den impatiently, waiting for Skyspirit to emerge. When she finally saw the glint of silver fur in the moonlight, she pounced behind her mentor, eager to be guided to the Moonpool. On this night, all the medicine cats from the four clans would travel to the Moonpool to share dreams with Starclan. As much as she had tried to focus on her clan duties, she couldn't help thinking of her dream. She had even wondered, from time to time, whether the prophecy could refer to her own litter. Whether it did or not, the prophecy talked about three, and the final cat would 'reunite the fifth.' She concluded to share her thoughts with Starclan tonight at the Moonpool.

Continuing to turn this over in her mind, the surroundings changed from flat moor to Thunderclan trees. Her amber gaze flicked to the trees as she spotted a pair of dark eyes. A small tabby she-cat tumbled out of the branches. Giggling, she sniffed her pelt instinctively for infected wounds.

"Amberpaw! That was foolish of you. Come here." Pinefall, the Thunderclan medicine cat sank his teeth softly into his apprentice's scruff. After sniffing her to his satisfaction, he set her down on the mossy ground. For a moment, Moonpaw thought the medicine cat would punish the apprentice further, but she saw a playful, good natured glint in the cat's crystal blue eyes. After meowing a few quick greetings and introductions, they continued toward the Moonpool, joined by Shadowclan's Tawnyspots and Riverclan's Shadow-wing. When they arrived at the Moonpool, Moonpaw fought the urge to lick her aching paws and lapped up the cool water and curled into a tight ball.

Stars. Lots and lots of stars appeared in Moonpaw's vision. A familiar dark moor setting formed below the star-speckled sky. The voice from her dreams mewed once again, but this time, she could see the outline of the speaker. She approached the tortoiseshell tom. Images flashed through her mind once more throughout the prophecy. Suddenly, she was running through an unfamiliar forest. Heat lapped at her tail, and she dug her claws into the ground, trying to outrun the flames following her. She glanced down at her paws. To her surprise, they were white with long fur. While she stared, they darkened, like her own. She was standing on the High rock, pride glowing in her chest. As she felt herself waking up, she saw a ginger tom.

"Firestar," he introduced quickly. "We have little time. I deliver this message from Starclan- The fifth await."

Moonpaw woke sharply to Amberpaw's dark eyes, staring down brightly at her.

"She's awake, Pinefall!" Amberpaw called to her mentor. "_You_ were the last to wake up." The apprentice mewed, but there was no scorn in her voice, only bright curiosity.

"I hope Starclan shared with you good advice?" Moonpaw mumbled stiffly, ruffling her fur and getting to her paws.

"Yes- I suppose," The medicine cat apprentice cast her eyes down. Moonpaw wondered if she was jealous of her because she was the last to wake, and Starclan had clearly shared much with her. As she padded silently alongside Skyspirit, thoughts stirred in her head. She thought about her vision of standing on the high rock, the pride she had felt. She wondered if the omen could be referring to her. Perhaps the wording 'rise as high as the moon' meant that she, Moonpaw, would someday stand on that very rock and earn a leader's name. She wondered if medicine cats ever became leaders.

Lying in her den, Moonpaw realized that she wouldn't be able to sleep and continued to think until Sunhigh. Why had Firestar said the fifth 'await', rather than 'awaits'? Perhaps the prophecy wasn't referring to a fifth cat at all.

…..

Flamepaw licked her lips and rose from her bedding. She had had a dream last night, despite her normal deep, dreamless sleep. She remembered trees, like being in Thunderclan territory. But most of all was a desperate need to run, and heat. Hot orange flames lapped at her long-haired sides.

She stretched, her white legs extending in the air. It had been nearly a moon since Moonpaw had gone to the Moonpool, and Flamepaw had hoped to weasel some information out of her littermate about sharing tongues with Starclan. Padding softly out of the den, she noticed that the leaf-bare snow had thawed to fertilize the moor with fresh water. She bounced lightly on the squishy grass. Her heart soared with excitement. New-leaf was coming, and as leaf-bare faded, so did the Greencough and Whitecough. The clan was plump from plentiful fresh-kill, but well exercised and fit from chasing the rabbits on the moor during new-leaf and green-leaf.

She heard a small wail from the nursery. _Of course! Runningstream's kitted! _Flamepaw eagerly dashed to the nursery, forgetting how early it was. She was relieved to find Runningstream awake nuzzling three tiny kits.

"What are their names?" Flamepaw announced her presence. The orange queen answered lightly, "This one,"- gesturing toward the dark tabby- "is called Tigerkit. This one,"-another dark tom with mottled tabby fur- "is Icekit. And this one,"-smooth silver she-cat- "Is Streamkit." The queen cast her eyes down shyly.

"They are beautiful kits," She murmured.

Exiting the nursery, she spotted Leopardpaw and Poppypaw, an older apprentice, returning from the dawn patrol, jaws weighed down by fresh-kill from his hunt. Flamepaw wondered if she could select a rabbit from the fresh-kill pile if she hadn't yet caught anything for the clan. She greeted Leopardpaw as he set down the prey and padded toward the elders den carrying a mouse. Flamepaw noticed Yellowfoot, the apprentice Poppypaw's mentor, strolling in the direction of Redstar's den. A moment later, the leader stepped up on the high rocks to address the clan.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a clan meeting." The clan responded immediately by forming a semi-circle around the high rock. When the last elders had padded stiffly to hear their leader, Redstar bowed his head respectfully to the crowd and then flicked his amber gaze to Poppypaw.

"Poppypaw, please step forward." Poppypaw licked her chest eagerly and then padded up to face the clan. "Your mentor tells me you fight and hunt like a warrior. Today, you caught nearly as much prey as all the warriors on your patrol combined. It is time you are given your warrior name."

As Poppypaw accepted the oath to her clan, Flamepaw's pelt prickled in excitement. Today, she would start training to be a warrior, like Poppypaw.

"Then Poppypaw, you will now be known as Poppycloud. Starclan honors your bravery and devotion to Windclan." The young warrior licked her leader's shoulder in respect, selected a large rabbit from the fresh-kill pile and retreated to the warrior's den.

Flamepaw, slightly jealous, scanned the crowd for her mentor, Specklenose. She rushed over to the light brown she-cat.

"Are we going to train now?" She whined impatiently. Specklenose nodded calmly at the small apprentice and led her, along with Leopardpaw and his mentor Sedgewhisker, to the training place. As soon as they reached the long grass reserved for apprentice training, Leopardpaw hopped lightly on his pads.

"That is how you stalk a thrush," he bragged, puffing out his golden chest proudly.

"Very well, Leopardpaw," permitted Sedgewhisker, "Take it away."

Leopardpaw demonstrated a wide range of prey-stalking techniques from rabbits to mice to what he thought would be able to fool a dove into his outstretched claws. After reviewing hunting, Flamepaw's heart raced as Specklenose announced that it was time to begin war training.

"Fear me," snarled Flamepaw, face to face with Leopardpaw. "I'll become a warrior so great that you won't dare face me. She dropped into a defensive crouch and slid smoothly through the long grass as Leopardpaw flung himself at her long-haired white pelt. She swung her sheathed claws at the tom's stomach. Expertly, the other cat grabbed her by the scruff. Flamepaw used the trick that had worked for her so long and went limp in the older apprentice's grasp. Suddenly, she flung out her limbs sharply, cuffing Leopardpaw in the nose. The tom released the small she-cat in shock. Flamepaw's stomach tingled with happiness. Someday, she would become a warrior just like Poppycloud and be able to serve her clan in more than just apprentice deeds.


End file.
